A general view of the Sports Direct Stadium during the Barclays Premier League match at St James' Park, Newcastle.
Next West Brom manager: talks progress with Spurs coach Ryan Mason but ex-Chelsea man now latest favourite..
There are now reportedly two contenders to be West Brom’s next manager.
West Bromwich Albion appear to be finally whittling down the candidates to fill their vacant head coach role.
The Baggies have been managerless for five weeks following the sacking of Tony Mowbray on Easter Monday, taking their time knowing their next appointment is absolutely pivotal. Albion recently missed out on the play-offs for the second time in three years due to a terrible end to the campaign, enough to see Mowbray relieved of his duties just three months into a two-and-a-half-year contract.
Mowbray’s second spell at The Hawthorns wasn’t anywhere near as successful as his initial stint 16 years ago, which included the 2007/08 Championship title. The 61-year-old, who had only just recovered from bowel cancer when he took the reins, lost eight of his 17 matches in charge, winning just five and drawing the remaining four.
Mowbray clearly retained his passion and adoration for the Baggies but football is a results business and the ownership opted to move in a different direction. It awaits to be seen exactly what that direction will be, though, as owners Bilkul have been very patient with their approach.
Albion could be moving closer to a resolution as talks are reportedly progressing with Tottenham Hotspur first-team coach Ryan Mason. As Spurs’ season has now ended, Mason can now focus fully on West Brom’s recent approach.
TalkSPORT reported on the weekend that Mason has the option to leave Spurs for the Baggies but is yet to make a decision. It’s claimed the 33-year-old is currently weighing up whether to leave the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium to take on his first-ever permanent head coach role.
Being offered a proper manager’s job for the first time must be a real tempter, but it won’t be easy to leave Spurs as they have just won the Europa League and have qualified for next season’s Champions League. Despite recording a catastrophic 17th-placed finish in the Premier League with a record 22 defeats, Spurs could be on the up again after ending a 17-year wait for a trophy.
Eric Ramsay still in contention.
If Mason isn’t the man, then Minnesota United manager Eric Ramsay shouldn’t be ruled out. The former Manchester United and Chelsea coach has become immensely popular at the Major League Soccer club, winning 25 of his 53 matches in charge to date, drawing 11 and losing the remaining 17.
Ramsay, who recently made the headlines for guiding Minnesota to a huge 4-1 victory over Lionel Messi’s Inter Miami, began his coaching career with Swansea City under-18s before moving on to an academy role at Shrewsbury Town. He then moved to Chelsea, where he was the assistant manager for the under-23 side for two years. Ramsay then left the Blues for a senior coaching role at Manchester United and a part-time gig as the Wales assistant manager.
Birmingham World understands the idea of becoming West Brom’s new boss has been floated to Ramsay directly. It awaits to be seen how keen he would be on the role as it would be a big risk leaving the United States, but he could be a genuine alternative to Mason.
As it stands, the bookies have Mason as the favourite at 1/2 but Ramsay, at 6/4, isn’t far behind at all. James Morrison, the current interim head coach at The Hawthorns is third at 10/1, then Marti Cifuentes, Russell Martin and John Mousinho all sit at 16/1.
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